Spoon's "Transference" (2010)
Review:
Calmer and more expansive than what has come before, Transference is Spoon at their best — comfortable, cohesive, and at times, still capable of tight, outstanding alternative rock.
Top Two Tracks:
“Written in Reverse” – “Trouble Comes Running”
For Spoon chords & lyrics, CLICK HERE!
By Chris Moore:
Good evening, cover song music video fans. I’m coming at you this Martin Luther King, Jr. Day with a selection from a band that will be releasing a brand new studio album tomorrow. The band is Spoon, and the album coming out tomorrow is Transference. I’ve only heard the single “Written in Reverse,” but that one song was enough to capture my interest.
And I couldn’t be happier, since there is little that makes me as excited as having a reason to go to the music store on a Tuesday afternoon/evening.
So, to help bide my time until tomorrow, I learned and practiced a different Spoon song this weekend and finally recorded it earlier today. The song is “Jonathon Fisk” and it is from Spoon’s 2002 album Kill the Moonlight. I had this album recommended to me by a friend just after New Year’s Day, in anticipation of their upcoming new release. I listened to it a couple times, then put it aside. Out of nowhere last week, I had the urge to hear it again, and now I can’t get enough of it. Kill the Moonlight is quirky and upbeat and experimental — all the aspects of great alternative rock music that I love!
So, it is with great pleasure that I pass along “Jonathon Fisk” to you for your consideration. Apparently, the song was written about a bully that songwriter Britt Daniel had experience with in school. Later, according to Daniel, the real-life “Fisk” attended a significant number of the band’s shows.
Interesting how life turns out…
Speaking of the oddities of our modern lives, has anyone else seen Up in the Air? It was every bit as good as I hoped it would be, but what a downer! Let’s just say that one of the characters turns out to be a… Well, a big fat doo-doo head, for lack of a better euphemism. I literally sat through all of the credits just staring at the screen in disbelief. Really though, without saying too much, I would highly recommend this one, if for no other reason than the fact that George Clooney is awesome.
Some say that we have the same chin, which I take as the highest form of compliment. Go ahead, try not to stare dreamily at my chin while you’re watching my video tonight.
In unrelated news, I’m coming up on crunch time here, as the second marking period for my school ends tomorrow and midterms run until next Monday. What does this mean for me? Well, I have essentially a week to enter and finalize grades for all my classes. I’m currently in the middle of the pile I wanted to finish by this evening, so I naturally decided that I had plenty of time to kick back and watch a couple hours of television. Now that that’s over, it’s back to work for me.
Thankfully, I had this Laptop Session post to write, so I’ve been able to procrastinate just a little longer…
But, at long last, it’s back to gradin’ for me. I hope you enjoy tonight’s video and that you’ll come back soon for another week’s worth of new material at the greatest cover song music video blog on the web today.
See you next session!
To see how it’s played in the music video cover, CLICK HERE!
“Jonathon Fisk”
Spoon
Intro: A D
A
Maybe you remember, maybe you’re locked away.
A D
Maybe we’ll meet again some better day, some better life.
A
Mmmm… Jonathon Fisk speaks with his fists
A D
Can’t let me walk home on my own.
A
And just like a knife, down on my life,
A D
So many ways to set me right.
B A
It’s such a long way home.
It’s how the story goes.
A D
And it’s like atom bombs and blunt razors,
D
Atom bombs and blunt razors…
A
Jonathon then says it’s a sin,
But he don’t think twice ’cause to him
D
Religion don’t mean a thing —
It’s just another way to be right wing.
A
Just like a knife, down on my life,
So many ways to set it right.
D
That’s how it goes.
That’s how the story goes.
It’s such a long way home.
You’re too old to understand.
‘Cause I just want to get home now;
I just want to get home now.
Jonathon’s right, down on my life,
So many ways to set me right.
On the long walk home,
That’s how the story goes.
And Jonathon Fisk, always a risk,
Tells me he counts my teeth every night.
I want to get them all back now;
I want to get them all back.
E D A
And I want to turn it around.
Ooo-oo… Turn it around…
Ooo-oo, oo-oo… Turn it around…
** These chords and lyrics are interpretations and transcriptions, respectively, and are the sole property of the copyright holder(s). They are posted on this website free of charge for no profit for the purpose of study and commentary, as allowed for under the “fair use” provision of U.S. copyright law, and should only be used for such personal and/or academic work. **
I’ll be driving my sister and her boyfriend back to New York soon. Seeing as how I have a full gas tank already and recently brought my car for an oil change, I figured the best way to prepare for the trip was to make a playlist.
No brainer, right?
So, I’ve spent much longer than I should have rooting around among my iTunes archives to find a selection of songs that is varied, caters to both of our tastes, and will be good for a road trip. This was a bit more difficult than I initially anticipated, but I finally have a final sequence that will last the entire hour and a half journey (give or take).
You’ll find some songs that Jaime first introduced me to via her consistently high-quality compilations, songs like “Anti-Christ Television Blues” from Arcade Fire and “I Just Do” by Dear & the Headlights. Other songs are my picks from albums that she introduced me to, tracks like Right Away, Great Captain’s “What A Pity” and Neutral Milk Hotel’s “In the Aeroplane Over the Sea.”
I would have liked to include a different track by the Hush Sound (“A Dark Congregation” is a song that she included on a compilation), but I haven’t picked up a copy of their 2008 album Goodbye Blues yet.
Emphasis on “yet”…
The rest of the playlist is populated by blasts from the past, like the opener from Relient K, as well as a healthy helping of new 2010 tracks that I want her to hear (the songs from the Black Keys, the Hold Steady, Locksley, and Spoon). And, of course, I couldn’t resist Bob Dylan and Beach Boys songs with New York in the title, as well as the only song I know of that refers to Nyack in the lyrics: Fountains of Wayne’s “Little Red Light.”
So, that’s my thought process on the creation of this playlist. If you can think of any songs I should have added, comment as soon as possible so I can make the necessary updates! 🙂
1) “My Way or the Highway…” – Relient K
2) “I Just Do” – Dear & the Headlights
3) “Asleep in the Chapel” – Thursday
4) “Hard Times in New York Town” – Bob Dylan
5) “Cream and Bastards Rise” – Harvey Danger
6) “16 Military Wives” – The Decemberists
7) “Drive My Car” (Live from Good Evening New York City) – Paul McCartney
8) “Tighten Up” – The Black Keys
9) “Am I Ever Gonna Find Out” – Lifehouse
10) “Get Back” (from Love) – The Beatles
11) “Hustle and Cuss” – The Dead Weather
12) “The Girl From New York City” – The Beach Boys
13) “Try” – Straylight Run
14) “The Fixer” – Pearl Jam
15) “What A Pity” – Right Away, Great Captain
16) “Drive” – Incubus
17) “Blue Orchid” (Live from Under Great White Lights) – The White Stripes
18) “Soft in the Center” – The Hold Steady
19) “21st Century” – Locksley
20) “A Dark Congregation” – The Hush Sound
21) “The Vampires of New York” – Marcy Playground
22) “Anti-Christ Television Blues” – Arcade Fire
23) “Hop a Plane” – Tegan & Sara
24) “In the Aeroplane Over the Sea” – Neutral Milk Hotel
25) “California Zephyr” – Jay Farrar & Ben Gibbard
26) “Little Red Light” – Fountains of Wayne
27) “Written In Reverse” – Spoon
28) “Everybody Learns From Disaster” – Dashboard Confessional